


Sins Will Never Vanish

by subjunctive



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, F/M, Loki's kind of a creep in this, but it's his job so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-04 20:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1791790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subjunctive/pseuds/subjunctive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is assigned to investigate an astrophysicist for selling company secrets. The trouble is, he knows her, and they have something of a ... history.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sins Will Never Vanish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Artemis_Day](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Day/gifts).



His appointment with one Virginia "Pepper" Potts began perfectly punctually. 

″I need you to look into someone for me,″ she said without preamble, after sitting down.

He checked her hand discreetly. She wasn't wearing a ring, but that didn't always mean anything. ″A spouse, or a potential one, perhaps?″ he asked as delicately as possible.

″This is a business matter, not personal.″ Her voice brooked no disagreement on that point. ″We have some concerns about the trustworthiness of our staff at Stark Industries.″

″You wish me to investigate your employees, then?″

″One of them, that's correct. A physicist. It's important that this is kept discreet, Mr. Laufeyson," she said. Unlike many of his clients, who were mostly suspicious spouses, her eyes regarded him keenly, and she seemed to have a sharp awareness he did not see often. He appreciated that she did not seem like an idiot. "We're having a problem in the company. Information getting out, technology we're developing showing up in the hands of our competitors." 

"Hence why you have come to see me," supplied Loki, his mind racing ahead. This was not his usual sort of case, but that might well be a good thing. Certainly it would be a change of pace.

Miss Potts made a spreading gesture with her hands, a sort of _as you can see_. ″You come highly recommended. Of course, it helped that our last in-house investigator turned out to selling tabloid secrets as well, so we have something of an opening at the moment.″

He decided it was better not to ask what had happened to this investigator. A company with resources as vast as Stark Industries was to be … not feared, not quite, but certainly respected. ″And this … physicist. You suspect them?″

″Well, Tony doesn't.″ Her tone told him what she thought of Stark's judgment. ″But everyone with access to certain labs is a possible culprit, of course. We do background checks for all our employees, but it's always possible to miss something. And of all our employees, she's the newest. She began six months ago, around the time that the leaks began.″

″A natural suspect. I see.″ Loki turned over the possibilities in his mind. ″And precisely what would you like to know?″

″We'll keep an eye on her at work – we're having a major security overhaul installed over the weekend – but we'd like you to look into her personal life. Extensively. Anything you can find out that might be relevant to what's happening at the company.″

″That may be expensive,″ he said frankly, leaning to the side with his chin in hand to study her reaction.

″We're willing to pay,″ she said serenely. He could believe it, knowing what he did of her company.

″Then I can have no objections,″ he said with his most winning smile.

Miss Potts returned the gesture a little more coolly and withdrew a slim folder from her briefcase, sliding it across the desk. ″Here's the relevant information from her employee file. Her name is Jane Foster.″

Loki's fingers stilled above the folder, where they had been about to open it. ″Jane Foster,″ he repeated, trying not to let the surprise he felt show. Now that … was interesting.

″Yes.″ Miss Potts seemed not to notice his odd reaction, looking at something on her phone discreetly, rolling her eyes, and then dropping it back in her purse. ″If you need anything other information, please let me know.″

She produced another folder, this time with legal documents, each signature space flagged. There were a lot of signature spaces. ″I know the usual procedure is to fax paperwork back and forth, and then you'd begin when we're done, but this is urgent for us. We need you to begin right away.″

He looked up. She was holding a checkbook and a pen now, poised in one hand.

″I know you'll need time to go over the legalese,″ she continued, ″but we're prepared to pay you an advance to begin right away. The NDA, of course, will retroactively cover any information you discover between now and the actual signing.″

″Of course,″ he murmured, and then, since she seemed to be waiting for him to, named his price for this arrangement.

Her eyebrows rose, and her pen didn't move. ″Is that your usual rate, Mr. Laufeyson?″

″It's my usual Stark Industries rate,″ he said without missing a beat. ″And you are asking me to work over the weekend. That's quite inconvenient for me. What if I had plans for such innocent pursuits as fishing or apple-picking?″

A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth at the disdain in his tone. She filled out the check and held it out to him. ″Let's say seventy-five percent of that. Take it or leave it.″

He took it, and saw Miss Potts to the door graciously.

After he had shut the door behind her, Loki turned around and leaned against it for a moment, thinking. The correct thing to do was call her back and declare his conflict of interest to her. If she discovered his admittedly small connection to Foster _after_ the ink was dry, it could be worse for him than if he'd never taken the case at all.

Not to mention the fact that, from what he remembered about her, Jane Foster was far too idealistic and naïve to sell company secrets. He could have told Miss Potts that, too.

Of course, there was no paycheck taking that route. No, better to wait and see if there was another way to raise it, one that might mitigate the disadvantage of the revelation.

And besides, the folder was still on his desk, waiting to be opened. Loki could never resist the allure of a closed file. Or an opportunity to continue unfinished business.

   
  


Setting the coffee down in the cupholder – utter swill, but caffeinated appropriately for the task – Loki glanced against the entrance to the Stark Industries complex and wondered, not for the first time that night, whether he'd missed her.

It was a Friday evening, and dusk had begun spilling across the sky. Only a few lights were still on in the building.

The file lay open next to him on the other seat. In it had been Foster's personal and contact information and the previous background check they'd had performed, as well as her schedule and what times she had been leaving work the past few weeks, apparently collected via her key card swipes. It had told him that she stayed late most nights and came in on the weekends more often than not – he recalled her workaholism dimly himself – except for Thursdays, when she left early. These times had been circled on the sheet and noted with a question mark.

He would have to wait for Thursday, but there was plenty of information to collect in the meantime. He'd already let himself into her apartment to bug her landline, but it had looked dusty and underused. A more promising avenue of investigation was the invisible program he'd left on her home computer, which would track her keystrokes and allow him access to all her electronic activities and communications.

At the same time he was assembling these traps, he'd also been assembling a mental file of everything he could remember about Jane Foster. She had been a graduate student when she had begun a brief, whirlwind romance with his – with Thor. This had been – he smiled thinly at the memory – not well received by his father, although those troubles ended up being overshadowed by their mother's death and, in Loki's life, certain of his own … personal discoveries, which had led to some complications.

School-obsessed, impulsive, brash, but easily charmed. (She'd have had to have been, to see anything worthwhile in Thor.) Possessed of an extraordinary intelligence, although only as it related to physics.

Two women exiting the building caught his attention. Both had brown hair, and they were walking toward him with their arms linked and heads tucked together. As they drew closer his gaze was drawn to the shorter one, with her hair pulled back, revealing pink cheeks. That was her. As pretty as he remembered, he thought suddenly, and dismissed that thought.

He held up his phone to his ear and looked away, while listening closely. Through the cracked window, he could hear snippets of their conversation as they passed by.

″-- _fault_ I'm here on a Friday night, so it's only _fair_ \--″

″It's not like you had to stay, Darcy.″ Jane sounded exasperated.

″Well, we have plans, and I knew if I left early you would totally bail on me! Which is exactly what you're trying to do now!″

″I am not 'bailing' on you, I'm just--″

They stopped walking not far away. Loki watched out of the corner of his eye as the second woman harangued Jane, thrusting a finger into her face.

″You—are coming with me—and you are going to have some beer and curry fries and _relax_ \--I know you like the curry fries at Hooligan's! _Curry fries_ , Jane.″

There was much mutual sighing and reluctant agreement, then they moved on.

″Hooligan's″ sounded like the name of a bar to Loki, and sure enough, that was what came up on his phone after a quick search. Such a location would be ideal for getting his hands on certain of her personal items, but there were risks as well.

Loki weighed the benefits against the drawbacks, and called Pepper Potts. When she answered, he said nonchalantly, ″I called to let you know, Miss Potts, that it turns out I was briefly acquainted with Dr. Foster, several years ago. I hope that's not a problem.″

There was silence on the other end for a moment. ″How exactly were you acquainted?″

″She dated someone I knew,″ he said dismissively. It was the best kind of lie, Loki's favorite, a twisting of the truth. ″We only met a few times. I didn't even recognize her name; I only remembered because the photograph in her file seemed familiar.″

″I see.″ He could hear the question in the cautious undercurrent of her voice, wondering why he would tell her this information.

″There are certain avenues of surveillance I could take with strangers that are unavailable to me with people who might recognize me,″ he continued. ″On the other, more advantageous hand, she might be willing to share more details of her life with someone she already knows, even if only a little. I only tell you now in case on Monday you overhear her say something like, 'You won't guess who I met over the weekend...'″

″I see,″ she said again, but this time Loki could hear relief. ″If that's all, then...″

It was. If Miss Potts were smart, as smart as he suspected she was, she would have someone else look into his background for more information, and possibly double-check his own work. That was fine. He'd ensured long ago that there was not much to find, and what little there was implicated nothing.

Tossing the phone in the other seat, Loki started the engine. Perhaps he would have an interesting Friday evening after all.

   
  


The bar turned out to be more of a pub. Almost immediately he spotted the woman who had been with Jane in the far corner, in a round booth, though he didn't see Jane herself. Instead of inviting himself over, he went to the bar and ordered a Sazerac.

The bartender told him it would be awhile since they had to chill the glass. Loki merely smiled and told her, ″As cold as possible, yes. I shall be here for some time. I think someone may be joining me.″

It was at that moment that Jane Foster chose to walk out of the bathroom in the back. Leaning against the bar, Loki turned to see her, and at the same moment she saw him as well.

For a few seconds, she simply stood there, staring at him with wide eyes. He offered her a pointed smile, unable to resist.

She walked over to him, her pace picking up speed, and as he opened his mouth to say—he wasn't quite sure yet, but something wicked—she slapped him.

The crack resounded through the bar, and a number of heads turned to watch them with interest. Loki turned so that his back was against the bar and looked down at her, smiling widely. ″Why hello, Jane,″ he almost purred. ″It's lovely to see you too.″

Behind him, the bartender asked loudly, ″This guy bothering you?″

Now that she'd made her grand gesture, though, Jane seemed to be shrinking back into herself and noticing the attention they were receiving from the other patrons. She watched him for a moment, biting her lip, and finally said in an embarrassed but defiant voice, ″No, it's fine.″

″I suppose I deserved that,″ Loki said lightly, his satisfaction negating any possible apology inherent in the words. His cheek felt warm and tingled alarmingly.

″Yeah, you did.″ She was breathing rather heavily, he noticed, and her hands were on her hips. ″What are you doing here?″

He looked down his nose at her. ″I'm here to get a drink, of course.″

Jane just snorted. ″Sure you are.″

″It's true. I've placed an order and everything.″ He couldn't remember smiling this much in ages. ″I don't suppose, now that you've publicly assaulted my person—that must be an actionable offense of some sort—you'll buy my drink? Surely it's the least you can do.″

″Oh my god,″ Jane muttered, then added something about ″keeping your enemies close.″ ″I'm not buying your drink, though,″ she added hotly as she led him to her booth.

″Hello, random guy,″ the woman across from Jane said, wiggling her fingers and looking at him through narrowed eyes as they sat down. Jane's purse, presumably with her phone in it, sat between them now. Perfect.

″Darcy, this is Loki. Loki, Darcy.″

″Aaaaand, how do you guys know each other?″ prompted Darcy, her voice slightly sing-song.

Jane sighed.

″I mean, it kinda seems like there's a story here. What with the hitting and everything.″ Darcy propped her chin up in her hand and looked back and forth between them with interest.

″It's not important,″ Jane said at the same time that Loki said as innocently as possible, ″She used to date my brother.″

″Sure. _That's_ the whole story.″ Darcy sounded exceedingly unconvinced.

″It _is_ ,″ Jane insisted, and dipped a french fry in some kind of orange sauce. When Loki reached for one, she slapped his hand away and glared at him. ″Plus he has a thing for trying to take things that _aren't his._ ″

How dreadfully unsubtle.

″Can you blame me? When they look so good?″ He leaned back, grinning, and watched her flush as she caught his meaning.

″You only want them because you can't have them,″ she mumbled, looking down and the table and stuffing the fry in her mouth.

″Uh-huh,″ said Darcy slowly.

At that moment, someone came by with his Sazerac and apologized for the wait. While the two women were distracted, Loki's hand slipped into Jane's purse and retrieved her phone. He had just gotten it into his own pocket when Darcy asked him, ″So Jane's a physicist, which I'm sure you know 'cause she's been one since she was like five, and I work for her, so what do _you_ do?″

″I'm a photographer,″ he said with a small smile. It was even true, in a sense.

Jane snorted again. ″You're such a liar.″

″Could you expect anything else, given my namesake? Excuse me, I'll be right back.″ He winked at them. ″Feel free to take a sip while I'm gone.″

″ _Ugh_ ,″ he heard behind him as he ducked into the bathroom. It only took a moment to begin downloading the software onto her phone. It would take longer, however, to finish and for him to configure it appropriately, so he had to keep her busy for a while.

When he returned, Darcy was texting on her phone and Jane was in the middle of berating her, having apparently downed her drink and begun another. ″-- _all your fault,_ you wanted me be 'be social' and this is what--″

Jane caught sight of him, however, and snapped her mouth shut, looking at him balefully. His only response to that was to grin.

″So, Jane Foster, what have you been up to lo these past few years?″ He took a sip from his drink, a welcome chill.

She looked at him with suspicion, but seemed to decide to play along. ″I've been working.″

″Yeah, Jane's a regular workaholic,″ Darcy said through a fry. ″Gonna fly us into space soon, isn't that right, Doc?″

″My work doesn't have anything to do with spaceships or space travel,″ Jane said, but she sounded only mildly annoyed. ″I investigate high-energy cosmic rays,″ she said to Loki.

″And what has your investigation turned up?″

Darcy rolled her eyes. ″Great job. Now we're gonna be here all night.″

Immediately Jane launched into an explanation of her latest readings, which were insensible to Loki and which he tuned out except for the occasional polite nod or murmur. It all sounded very theoretical and abstract to Loki, who wondered what exactly it was that Stark Industries did.

After a few minutes of this, Darcy broke in to say, ″It's been real, guys, but I gotta bounce. My ride's here.″

This stopped Jane in her tracks. ″You're leaving already?″ she asked incredulously. Loki took the opportunity to steal a few fries. ″This was your idea!″

Darcy tucked her phone away. ″That doesn't mean we were gonna hang all night. _Especially_ talking about work. You've got company, so my obligations to your social life are fulfilled. _And_ I've got some hot intern action waiting for me.″ She made a noise that Loki supposed he should interpret as a sexual expression; he found it distasteful.

Jane looked at her mournfully, as though Darcy had personally injured her.

″Don't give me that look, Jane. You have a car.″ Darcy gave them a brilliant smile and walked away, the clack of her heels fading.

″You may continue regaling me with the mysteries of astrophysics,″ he said. It was a generous offer, if he did say so himself.

However, Jane wasn't buying it; she gave him a look that told him so. ″What are you doing here, seriously?″

″I have no agenda, Jane, but to see you.″

″ _That_ I don't believe.″ Looking at the plate, Jane frowned. ″Hey, you stole some fries! Not fair!″

″Perhaps you should not become so inebriated,″ he suggested. ″You might have noticed otherwise.″

″I am _not_ inebriated. I've only had three drinks. Two and a half!″

He raised an eyebrow, daring her.

″Here, I'll show you.″ She stood up, and wavered. She might have fallen had she not caught herself on his proffered arm.

″I think this means I should drive you home,″ he suggested.

Sighing heavily, Jane acquiesced. ″I guess. _To be safe_ ,″ she added for clarification.

″It must be your stature,″ he said with false sympathy, standing up and leaning over her slightly. ″It can't be helped.″

″Asshole.″

Loki collected her purse and paid their bill. ″Everything better be in that when I get home,″ she threatened as they walked out the door. He only smiled where she wouldn't see it.

Fortunately, he had put away any incriminating documents before coming in. She seemed to sober up somewhat on the drive to her apartment, giving him directions that he didn't need and leaning her head against the window. Otherwise, they didn't speak much. Loki found himself watching her out of the corner of his eye.

At her apartment, she took his arm as they went up the stairs in the dark, let him draw her keys out of her purse and unlock her apartment, and didn't protest when he let himself in as well. There were papers on every flat surface, including the floor, mostly covered in equations and data sets.

″May I?″ he asked, gesturing toward the bathroom. She waved a hand at him in tacit permission and flopped into an armchair, though she had to remove the folder that was there first and fling it away.

In the bathroom, Loki put the finishing touches on the invisible surveillance program he'd installed on her phone and returned it to her purse.

″This is yours, I think,″ he said when he came out, holding it out to her by the strap. Taking it, Jane made a show of looking through it to make sure everything was there. Apparently satisfied with that, but otherwise _un-_ satisfied, she looked up at him from the chair with her brow furrowed. He waited.

″There's something you want,″ she said finally, her voice flat. ″I know there is. I just can't figure out what. You got what you wanted already.″

″Did I?″ he said lightly. ″I don't recall.″

Jane's mouth twisted in annoyance. ″Don't give me that. Your little--″ She waggled her fingers at him. ″ _Seduction attempt_ might not have worked, but Thor and I ended up breaking up anyway.″

″Is that what I wanted?″ He was still smiling, but there was an edge to it now.

She huffed, standing up to face him as if drawing herself up to her full height was at all intimidating, even with her arms crossed. Truly, he thought dryly, a formidable sight. ″Don't try to pretend otherwise.″

She was only a few inches away. At that distance, it was easy for Loki to lean in and whisper in her ear, ″What if I wasn't pretending?″ and feel her shiver slightly. _The best lies ..._ But she didn't move away.

″Oh please,″ she muttered somewhere in the vicinity of his shoulder. He pulled back, nose brushing her cheek, close enough to kiss.

And why not? Loki thrived on chaos and uncertainty. So he did.

He felt her draw in a breath as their lips brushed. But her mouth parted—surprise, perhaps, or something else, something more satisfying—and he took his opportunity, tongue delving into her mouth and tasting her.

Jane had tipped her head up to meet him and leaned up till she was on the tips of her toes—he caught her elbows in his hands and they were lucky that there was a wall nearby to catch her, weren't they, for him to press her up against as her hands clutched at his shoulders and him to raise her up a few inches, holding her there with his weight.

She squeaked, pulling her knees up, and he hitched her higher so there was almost no height difference between them, so that it was no effort at all to duck his head and find a sensitive spot on her throat and worry it with teeth and tongue, so he could easily hear all the soft and appealing sounds she made as her legs tightened around him.

Abruptly, however, Jane let go of him and let her weight drop, so he let her go, pulling back to study her. Her eyes were closed, mouth pink and skin flushed. Loki watched as she bumped her head against the wall behind her twice. Then she opened her eyes and looked at him.

″What was that about?″ she said after a long moment, pressing her lips together.

″Don't tell me what I want,″ he said by way of answering. He intended for it to come out easily, even flippantly, but it was darker than that.

She stared at him.

Quickly he retreated a few steps, putting some distance between their bodies. ″Have a good night, Jane,″ he said, and that did come out more easily.

″You're just—going? Like that? _After_ that?″ She looked like she had been struck dumb.

″Perhaps you'll be so lucky as to see me again.″ At his own drawling words, Loki felt something in himself respond, wanting, and tried to push it away. ″One day.″

He thought, as he left, that it would be sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, there was a mystery to solve. Or perhaps more than one.


End file.
